Nor was there any confirmation of the story from the government in Damascus or from Asma's parents, who live in London. Rumours about a pregnancy have been circulating for several months.

"On the personal level, the man [Assad] seems calm and in control," al-Akhbar reported. "His confidence level stands out. Also, there's the news of the pregnancy of his wife Asma, which could not be dealt with as a simple personal matter between a couple."

The report triggered abusive and vengeful comments from Syrian anti-Assad activists on social media such as Twitter and Facebook.

Assuming a degree of deliberate news management, the story may be part of an effort by the president to project an image of normality in the midst of a bloody crisis which has already seen 60,000 people killed since the uprising began 22 months ago.

That could help counter the negative effect of recent news that his mother Anisa had left Syria for Abu Dhabi, where his sister Bushra has also been living since her husband, the security chief Assef Shawkat, was killed in a bomb attack last summer.

Assad told his visitors that foreign-funded "armed groups" had suffered serious setbacks. These included the recent designation by the US of the Jabhat al-Nusra group as a terrorist organisation because of its links to al-Qaida. Russia, the president predicted, would continue to support him. "It is protecting itself, not the Syrian regime," he explained. Plans were also afoot for refugees to return to their homes.

Her husband made one of his increasingly rare public appearances when he made a defiant speech in early January, having previously not been seen since November.

Born in London to Syrian parents, Asma studied computer science and worked briefly as an investment banker before marrying Assad in 2000, shortly after he succeeded his father Hafez. The couple's three children, Hafez, Zein and Karim, are 11, 9 and 8 respectively.

The first lady's life was the subject of a controversial 3,200-word Vogue article entitled A Rose in the Desert, which dwelt on her modern outlook and progressive views on parenting. It appeared in March 2011, the month the Syrian uprising began with unrest in the southern city of Deraa. Vogue later disowned the article.

In November a pro-government Facebook page claimed that Asma was five months pregnant. If that was true, she could be expected to give birth in March.

Personal emails leaked last year showed that amid the escalating violence she had been shopping online for designer shoes, chandeliers from France and other luxuries. Shortly afterwards she was blacklisted by the EU, though she cannot be banned from entering the UK because she is a British citizen.